Pictures of You
by surestsmile
Summary: A collection of drabbles illustrating the different aspects of Kingdom Hearts and it's successors, they are all just pictures, pictures... of you. [Gen, drabbles]
1. His Saving Grace: Kairiku

**Title**; His Saving Grace  
**Word Count**; 342  
**Notes**; Kairiku. I do not own _Kingdom Hearts_.

He sleeps at her side like a faithful pet, curled up tight against her body even though she's cold as ice and her bosom is as silent as a grave. It had long ceased to bother him, the empty silence, his mind more caught up in the things of the dark, of amber eyes and soft antennae that nudges at his gloved hands. He whispers to her nonsensical sweet nothings, stroking her auburn hair, breathing in her dry, illicit scent.

She is not dead, though her eyes don't blink and she doesn't breathe, and he doesn't have time (doesn't want to, more like) to think about the illogicality of the entire situation (_her heart is missing but she's still alive, she is alive, my dear boy, so don't fret your pretty head about it_). He is more content to kneel by her bed, kissing her hand like a prince would for his long-sought-for princess.

Perhaps if he were saner (or braver, or stronger, or a thousand other things that he isn't right now) she wouldn't have been here in the first place, but then he wouldn't have the liberty of touching each of her delicate fingers with his lips, examine her perfect eyelashes up close, or feel her weight in his arms.

It was a little mercy, a little gratification then, enough to just barely dull the sharp edge of loneliness at times where clarity struck, that the three of them were as equally as far away from each other, that though he had her body, he hadn't had her heart, and Sora, well, he didn't seem to care much about the two of them.

So he whispers poison against her lips, warning her against Sora, and he waits for the day that he'll deliver the first, magical kiss (no matter that he had stolen so many, so many in her dead sleep, she wouldn't know anyway). And then she'll wake, and she'll smile, just for him alone.

And maybe, just maybe, selling his heart and his soul to the darkness would have been worth it all.


	2. She's So Lucky: Kairi

**Title**: She's So Lucky  
**Word Count**: 105  
**Notes**: Kairi-centric. There is a parallel to another story. And general weirdness. I do not own _Kingdom Hearts_.

Kairi isn't sure if she should be afraid of sleeping or not. Ever since Kingdom Hearts, she's been dreaming of a lot of things. The dreams aren't frightening though, and she can't really recall what she had dreamt.

They're more like someone else's memories, except not, she tells herself. When she wakes up again to screeching seagulls and bright sunlight, she thinks about her latest dream.

About the scent of old violets and rose, the feel of withered lips gently touching the middle of her forehead, and the voice, warm and almost familiar.

Saying quietly, "This is for luck."

And she wonders what it was like to be lucky.


	3. Untitled: Gen

**Title;** untitled  
**Word Count;** 187  
**Notes;** Rather strange, really. It's more like a train of thought piece, and not good at all. I do not own _Kingdom Hearts._

It's easy to see why they like her. She has the kind of smile that draws you to her like a moth to a flame, easy and open and friendly and loving, but he isn't fooled, oh no, he isn't. Not like Sora, nor Selphie, nor Wakka nor Tidus. He thinks he can see through her façade because she possesses his exact same smile, glass-like and beautiful and oh-so-perfect.

However, when they look at each other her expression always changes just a tiny little bit, the perfect cupid's bow becoming this side of flawed, and he returns his own mockery of a genuine grin to her. It strikes him as ironic that in their rivalry they are rendered imperfect and become a little more real.

Sora, understandably, never senses anything out of the ordinary, and his smiles are never perfect. They are always a little crooked and a little bitten, a little raw and a little bloody from the constant fights and the sunburns and the salt-saturated water.

But it's even easier to see why of all people in their tiny little group, he is the one who is loved.


	4. Memory's Ghost: Leon, Yuffie

**Title**: Memory's Ghost  
**Word Count**: 113  
**Notes**: Apathy is a great emotion to write with. Implied Squall/Rinoa, implied Leon/Yuffie. Because I can so not do pairings. And ambiguity. I do not own _Kingdom Hearts_.

Somewhere inside he still thinks he can hear her screams. Somewhere inside he still thinks he can see her tears, feel her hands (never strong, always delicate, and always, always soft and firm) pushing him away, pushing herself into danger.

Somewhere inside, he still thinks he can hear her last words.

"Just go."

And even as he looks at the other girl, sitting beside him and grinning so cheerfully, like nothing could go wrong with the world, nothing has gone wrong, so long as he's still alive...

He still thinks he sees her in her.

"Squall..."

"For the last time, Yuffie, it's Leon."

He still thinks those beautiful black eyes are looking back at him.

They still do.

But she's no longer there.


	5. Not Me: Riku, Sora

**Title**: Not Me  
**Word Count**: 169  
**Notes**: Post-everything, no spoilers. Riku has a one-sided conversation with Sora. I do not own _Kingdom Hearts_.

He knows when Sora sleeps, Sora sleeps deep. Those years, world-hopping, fighting Heartless, none of that has changed who Sora was. Who Sora is.

In the silence, he tells himself that this will be the last time.

"I'm glad you didn't change, you know." His voice is raw, husky, and he seats himself beside Sora's bed. "I'm really glad you didn't." He allows himself to chuckle, surprised that he still can laugh.

"Because when you get back to Destiny Islands, everyone will still know who you are.

"They're still waiting, you know. You silly brat, you've been making them wait so long. You've really got to go home."

He gently touches Sora's hair, almost patting him.

"And you know, you still have to keep that promise you made to me. And to her.

"Someone's waiting for you to go home. Someone's waiting to love you. And for you to love them."

Riku allows himself a smile, just a tiny, almost invisible curve.

And he presses ghostly lips to the corner of Sora's mouth.

"But it's not me anymore."


	6. Still: Kairi

**Title**: Still  
**Word Count**: 150  
**Notes**: I think there's a moral here, but I'm not sure what it is. Erm, other than that, I'm messing with the space time continum. It's kind of weird. Alice Liddell (from Wonderland) is influencing me on this one. I do not own _Kingdom Hearts_.

For her, time stands utterly still as she gazes towards the sea, waiting for the day she can hear the familiar crunch of gigantic shoes on sand, the warm touch of gloved fingers and Sora's bright, endlessly blue eyes.

For her, time is measured by Selphie's coaxes to at least eat "A nibble, please, just for me?" and Tidus' monologues "You should stop waiting, you know, they're never going to come back, you're wasting your life away" and her weight in Wakka's arms as he carries her home (he never talks to her, for which she is grateful), but for her, time stands mostly still.

When they finally come home, Sora looks barely twenty-five, and Riku, for some reason, doesn't look as if he's aged even a day since they left, and she is but a lonely, sixty-three year old woman.

But for her, time begins to move again.

And she is finally happy.


	7. Forgiveness: Cloud, Aerith

**title**; Forgiveness  
**word count**; 234  
**notes**; Cloud/Aerith. When they meet again, in Hollow Bastion, after nine long years. I do not own _Kingdom Hearts._

It was awkward, to say the least. He really didn't want to hide from her, after searching for so long, but he just couldn't tear his gaze away from the achingly familiar marble floor, so all he could see of her was brown boots and pink skirt and...and her face with the green, green eyes that made his heart flutter and yet stabbed him all over again with pain and regret. He was glad that she was alright after all, that Squall had been able to do what he couldn't, but it didn't soothe the ache in his heart.

That, for all of his love-struck pledges back when they were young, he had failed to protect her.

He didn't _deserve_ to see her again.

"Hi, Cloud."

He could feel his face twisting, eyes scrunching up to stop the tears that suddenly came, and her fingers were cool and smelt like the flowers that she so loved as they stroked his cheek, and it was with all his strength when he choked out, "I miss you."

And she was smiling gently at him, the expression as clear as day through his increasingly blurring vision, and in it he read the forgiveness that he's been searching for all his life, ever since the darkness came.

"I know," she said. "I know. It's okay."

On his face, he could feel his tears falling.


	8. Contracts: Gen

Disclaimer: I do not own _Kingdom Hearts_.

Contracts

They say you can find immortality in the Coliseum. They're right, you know. Sora doesn't know this, though if he did, he wouldn't have just stopped at defeating Hades at the Hades Cup, he would have held the god at keyblade point and demand that all contracts be nullified and made void.

Sora doesn't know a lot of things, but he knows that with every Heartless vanquished, a heart is released. Of course, it gets mighty depressing knowing that there are that many Heartless, but Sora quickly grows used to this fact and comforts himself with the idea that he's saving people.

In fact, he is delighted each time he enters the Coliseum, thinking that with every new battle, he frees more and more hearts, more and more souls.

He doesn't know that you can find immortality in the Coliseum, of course. Hades is the god of the underworld, and a villain to boot, so he controls each and every life that passes through. He would have controlled Sora's life force as well, except that Sora never signed a contract with him.

It doesn't matter, because Hades secretly rejoices each time Sora defeats the enemy, savoring the screams and howls of despair as he pulls up each and every freed heart from the pit, sealing them away again in their Heartless shells.

They will face Sora again and again, face the keyblade that holds their salvation, but it will not make a single difference.

They will never die.

They can never die.

You can find immortality in the Coliseum. All you need is a feathered pen and Hades' contract.

You can live forever and ever.

And over.


	9. Weak Spots: Marluxia, Namine

Disclaimer: I do not own _Kingdom Hearts: Chain of Memories_.

Notes: Written for "A Beastly Proposal" prompt at 31 Days.

Weak Spots

"Come here," he says, and she looks up at him, automatically clutching her sketchbook to her chest. It's not for a want of protection, but it's something for her to hold on to, a symbol of reassurance. He smiles at that move.

"You can bring that too. We wouldn't want to separate you from your treasure, would we? I just want to speak to you."

He holds his hand out to her, and spins her gently around as she takes it, so that her small body falls into his, and he wraps black-sleeved arms around her arched, tense shoulders. His hair falls into her line of sight, rich brown mixed with pale yellow.

"Listen to me," he whispers into her ear. "I will be leading a special boy into the Castle Oblivion soon. He'll come with two companions, a duck and a dog. What I would like for you to do is to rewrite their memories."

"So it's already time then," she says dully, and he laughs.

"Yes. But I've explained to you, I'm not doing this just for me, my dear girl. You want to meet him too, don't you?"

"Not like this."

"Why do you care? You don't matter to him, you are not the girl he wants. But he has the key to both what we want, doesn't he? Hearts to call our own, a chance to be the Somebodies we once were. A chance to be _better_ than the ones who foolishly lost our hearts."

She squirms, but he tightens his arms around her. "Don't you want your heart, Naminé?" he hisses.

She chokes out her answer, mindful of his grip. "I do."

_But not like this._

"Then that is enough. Don't think any further, sweet girl, white witch. Do as I say, Naminé, and make us both happy. He doesn't matter. And you'll be doing Roxas a favour too."

She turns glassy blue eyes on him. "That's just low."

He touches her empty chest, and she makes no move to shove him away. "It's called being heartless."


End file.
